Chili was spayed today, and the surgery went well. I brought her in at 7:30 am and took her home at one. She's certainly feeling the pain now, and every time she cries I want to cry too! We gave her some pain medication, but we had to dissolve it in water for her to take it. Is there anything else I can do to help her manage her pain or is she just going to have to tough it out now? She can't move or be moved much without yelling right now. I'm pretty much just keeping her in her kennel so she won't be tempted to move and squirm around. She's having a hard time finding a position that is comfortable.

If you've got an old fashioned hot water bottle, or one of those soft pads you microwave for her to lay on it might help. Sleep is the best thing for her. If she's still in pain in the morning, call the vet first thing and get a professional opinion about it. I'm not much good on the little tiny ones as far as knowing when they should really be in discomfort and when they are doing a very good job of making you feel guilty. Very little phases these monsters of mine. Shiva had a big triangular hole ripped in her side that you could fold the skin right back from and it didn't even phase her. The medication from being stitched back together the next day bothered her more than the injury did. The whole thing just about did me in, though, and I sympathize with you wholeheartedly.

One thing you might check for is to see if the area feels like fluid is accumulating.

Keep us posted. You know we'll be fretting right along with you.

__________________In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves. ~Buddha

Stupid is the most notoriously incurable and contagious disease known to mankind. If you find yourself in close proximity to someone infected with stupid, walk away as soon as said infection is noted.

There are few things more nauseating than pure obedience. ~ Kvothe

***8206;"silence is the language of god, all else is poor translation."
— Rumi
Be a god. Know when to shut up.

Thanks for the advice! Chili is handling everything surprisingly well. After being understandably uncomfortable last night, she went through the night with no problems or crying. She's eating and drinking well now, and her incision looks great. She seems to want to move around more, and we are restricting her to her kennel a lot of the time so that she doesn't get too active and hurt herself. A night of rest surely helped!
I'm feeling much better, too... : )

I guess it hurts like any routine surgery would. I guess laser surgery would be a little easier on animals than Chili's actually was. I also read that the older dogs get, the harder the recovery from spaying surgery. Chili just turned two, so she's probably having a harder time than she would have if we had done it earlier. She's not suffering too much, though, so she'd have breezed right through it if we'd had it done earlier. I'm glad we did it now, though, because it's a time when my husband and I are both off work so we can devote time to her 24/7! It's still hard to watch her when I know she's not feeling great. She'll be her active little self in no time, though!

hmmm I'm surprised they had you pick her up at 1:00 the same day. I had all my dogs spayed and it was an all nighter for all of them. Vet's orders. By the time I picked them up the following morning, they did have some discomfort but nothing painful.

Glad she's doing better however. Just remember not to let her lick the area. Don't want those stitches to get loose. Keep an eye on the incision.

I've heard that some vets send dogs home too soon to please the owners. They should keep them overnight to keep an eye on them and if needed supply pain medication, IMO. They sent Maddie home with me very drugged up. It was worse seeing her like that then it would have having her spend the night... With all of the fosters, they go through the shelter vet and they always stay overnight.

I've got mixed feelings on that. Dr. P is good about letting me bring mine home because he knows I'll be watching them all night, as opposed to being alone at the hospital. Plus, they are calmer and less stressed at home without having to be drugged. He does make sure they are out of anesthesia though.

__________________In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves. ~Buddha

Stupid is the most notoriously incurable and contagious disease known to mankind. If you find yourself in close proximity to someone infected with stupid, walk away as soon as said infection is noted.

There are few things more nauseating than pure obedience. ~ Kvothe

***8206;"silence is the language of god, all else is poor translation."
— Rumi
Be a god. Know when to shut up.

We actually had planned to pick her up at three that afternoon, but we stopped by about one to check on her progress and they said that she was doing well enough to go home at that point. My husband asked if they were sure they wanted us to take her that early, and they said she'd been checked out and was fine to go home. I don't really know if she'd have done any better by staying overnight. She wasn't in a hospital setting; it was a vet's clinic and they closed at five anyway. I think Chili was happier to be in her home where she could feel more comfortable and have all her most comfortable places to rest. They gave me enough pain medication for four days and some directions on what to do through the night and what to look out for. She's really doing great, only she has not had a bowel movement since before the surgery. She didn't eat anything Monday of the surgery, not even that night. She ate a handful of dry food and a treat yesterday, and about 1/4 cup of wet and 1/4 cup of dry food with a treat today. I know it is probably kind of painful for them to have BM's after surgery.